FIRST WOMEN TO WIN THE AFRICA PRIZE FOR ENGINEERING INNOVATION

A 26-year-old technology entrepreneur Charlette N’Guessan is the first ever woman to win the Africa Prize, and the first winner from Ghana. Charlette and her team developed a software that uses facial recognition and artificial intelligence to verify identities remotely.

The software can be integrated into existing apps and systems and is aimed at financial institutions and other industries that rely on identity verification when providing service. The BACE API software uses a phone or computer’s built-in camera and does not need special hardware, and in contrast to global AI systems, has been developed specifically to identify Africans.

Charlette wins the first prize of £25,000 (192,000 GHS). At the virtual awards ceremony held on 3 September 2020, four finalists delivered presentations, before Africa Prize judges and a live audience voted for the most promising engineering innovation.

ABOUT THE AFRICA PRIZE FOR ENGINEERING INNOVATION

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK in 2014, is Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to engineering innovation, and has a proven track record of identifying successful engineering entrepreneurs. Now in its sixth year, it supports talented sub-Saharan African entrepreneurs with engineering innovations, that address crucial problems in their communities in a new and appropriate way.

SOURCE: Royal Academy of Engineering